If not opioids, how do you deal with pain? Cleveland Clinic pushes non-drug solution: Know the Risks

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For years, doctors prescribed highly addictive opioids to people with chronic pain who in hindsight would have been better off treated with lesser drugs, or no drugs at all.

The American medical community has learned this the hard way; 33,000 people in the United States died from opioids in 2015.

Healthcare professionals around the country have begun reassessing their prescription habits, and the Centers for Disease Control has revised its guidelines to focus more on non-drug therapy.

Hospitals in Cleveland have also taken responsibility for finding a solution. The MetroHealth System has established an Office of Opioid Safety, and at the Cleveland Clinic, doctors who treat back pain are being advised to greatly limit their use of opioids.

One Cleveland Clinic program to treat pain without drugs is called the "Back on Trek" program. Trek stands for "Transform, Restore, Empower and Knowledge," but all you need to know is that helps patients reduce their pain, or learn to live with it, by relying on exercise and behavior changes.

In the video above, Jane Kasper, program manager for Back on Trek, talks about the program. Further down, click on another video to hear and watch physical therapist Patrick McGinty work with patients in the Back on Trek program.